Funny how these things always seem to happen at the last minute in politics.

Republicans, including the President, have been saying for more than two years that his immigration “reform” bill was not – repeat – not an amnesty measure. Anyone who said any differently was a “racist” or paranoid. There was no way that this bill would be used to grant permanent legal status to the 12 million illegal immigrant scofflaws residing in the United States.

Senators negotiating a bipartisan immigration reform bill have settled on the details of a plan that would immediately grant legal status to all illegal immigrants currently in the United States.

The deal on “Z visas” for illegal immigrants is one of several issues where Democrats and Republicans have reached broad agreement.

But as senators emerged from what they had hoped would be a final round of negotiations Tuesday, they indicated that painstakingly slow progress would keep them from meeting the deadline set by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to begin debate on a bill today.

Late Tuesday, Reid agreed to push that deadline to Monday.

“They tell me they’re 80% of the way,” Reid said in announcing the delay. “That’s fine, the other 20% is hard.”

The plan to award legal status to all illegal immigrants who meet certain qualifications would occur only after other “triggers” are met. These triggers would require that certain border security and work-site enforcement measures be in place before other aspects of the overhaul go forward.

The Z visa plan would start with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States going on a probationary legal status. If the triggers are met â€” a process that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) estimated would take 18 months â€” then illegal immigrants who qualify could get Z visas. Those who have committed felonies would not be eligible, Graham said, and all participants would have to pass security checks, pay a fine and a processing fee and pass an English proficiency test.

I am a cynical old curmudgeon, having long ago lost my wide eyed innocence when it comes to worshiping the men and women who occupy seats in the House or the Senate. In fact, I lost my schoolboy notions of government and the people who serve the United States within about 6 months of coming to Washington. They are not paradigms of wisdom and virtue nor are they evil manipulators. They are human. There are nice ones and mean ones. Smart ones and dumb ones. Clever ones and clueless ones. Serious and unserious, trustworthy and untrustworthy – the whole, rich panoply of the human tapestry encompassing all the good, the bad, the bald, and the ugly resides in those chambers of lawmaking. So it is entirely possible to revere lawmaking but be cynical about the lawmakers. Such is the way of Washington.

But one thing that all politicians can’t help being – good, evil, and everything in between – are liars. The very same thing that you might spank your child for, politicians do on a regular basis. The very same thing that you would divorce your spouse for, politicians do without thinking.

Hence, the illegal immigrant amnesty bill and what seems like an abrupt about face by many of the politicians involved. Long time Hill watchers took a look at that immigration bill when it first saw the light of day and could smell the amnesty provisions in it a mile away. Despite the denials that this simply wasn’t so. Despite the name calling by proponents, tarring the opposition with horribly hurtful epithets questioning their fairness and empathy. Despite all of it, the opponents of the bill turn out to be right and the advocates are revealed as liars.

Our politics have become so cynical that politicians know there is a very good chance the public will not penalize them for their lies, that the people will simply shrug their shoulders and chalk it up to “politics as usual.” And they would be right. The infection of fatalism regarding our politics and politicians has so sickened the public that expecting honesty and integrity in our public officials is no longer a given. When someone like Representative William Jefferson (D-LA) can be caught with $90,000 in cash stuffed in his freezer and be re-elected by a comfortable margin, you know that something might just be amiss with the body politic.

It’s their fault, of course. And ours. And our parents and grandparents and the long, illustrious line of Americans going all the way back to the Founding Fathers. The Founders may not have imagined a republic the likes of which we have today. But they knew what men were capable of doing when in power and tried to set up a system that mitigated against the worst of what we were capable of. The fact that they largely succeeded is astonishing. It’s just too bad they couldn’t imagine an age where lying became second nature to the politicians that people have grown weary of making excuses for.

5 Responses to “IMMIGRATION LIARS AND THE LYING LIARS WHO HAVE BEEN LYING TO US ALL ALONG”

1

Mark H. Said:
10:35 pm

You don’t sound the least bit hysterical to me Rick. It is amnesty through and through, not to mention that even the halved length of border fence will never be built.

The ruling class in Mexico is sipping champagne and toking on Cuban cigars tonight, but quietly until the votes are cast and the bill signed by the Pres, perhaps in a signing ceremony in a border town?

2

Tano Said:
1:48 am

Its your own fault.

No rational person would seriously advocate continuing the status quo, nor shipping the millions of working illegals home, nor letting them stay permanently in a second class status. Any immigration reform is going to have to find a way to integrate these people into American life – ie. eventual earned citizenship.

But conservatives are not rational people. There really is a deep well of fear and bigotry amongst your base. Propose a wise solution to a problem, and you can guarantee they will oppose it. Find some policy that harms the country, causes misery to lots of good people, but allows one to wave the flag and beat the chest, and they will surely support it.

Just like the prospect of doing stem cell research is likened to a new Auschwitz, or allowing gay couples to marry will destroy the marriages of all us heteros, so to the wise and rational solution to the immigration issue is built up into some scary disaster that will ruin the country.

So of course your politicians will say what they need to say to keep your drooling dittoheads quiet. And then they will go back to work to try and find a rational solution.

It is you guys who built up the “amnesty” bugaboo – redefining the word to encompass any policy that didnt amount to a massive expulsion. So yes, there will be “amnesty” as you define it – there always was gonna be. And if you didnt understand that all along, then you, like all your colleagues, were too busy drinking your own kool-aid to think clearly.

Republicans and Democrats struggled Wednesday over the final details of an elusive deal that would g…

4

mikeca Said:
2:46 am

Many years ago, when my daughter was young, we had a legal Spanish Au Pair. The Au Pair had a Mexican boyfriend, who also claimed he was here legally. He worked as chef in an expensive restaurant. Most of the employees of the restaurant were illegals, although they all had forged green cards. The owner of the restaurant was a big supporter of governor Pete Wilson, who was famously anti-illegals. The owner of the restaurant had a private dinner in his home for Pete Wilson, and used the employees from his restaurant to fix and server the meal. So here were all the illegals working in the kitchen, and they started joking, in Spanish, about whether they should poison Pete Wilson in front of Pete Wilsonâ€™s security detail, which did not understand Spanish. Obviously, it was just a joke.

The Republican Party is in a really hard place on illegal immigration. Everyone knows that building fences on the border is not a real answer. The real answer is enforcement of the laws against employers who hire illegals. If the illegals could not find work, they would go home. But the employers are big Republican contributors too, and the last thing they want is enforcement of work place rules against hiring illegals. Under the current administration the number of cases filed against employers for hiring illegals has gone to almost zero. What else would you expect from a business friendly administation?

Either we get serious about enforcing employer rules, or we give up and grant them amnesty.

5

David Said:
12:33 pm

We are going through a political transformation and rebirth is coming,but death precedes it.The republicans will become the 3rd party(remember the Whigs)replaced by the”National Constitutional Fundamental Family Values Patriotic Freedom Party”or whatever name is drafted at the founding convention.There is the leadership and wisdom available now to do this,but it will not happen until the republican party nominates McCain and loses to Hilliary in 08.Then the handwriting will be on the wall.Will it be too late?Not if she is a one term presidential disaster like Carter was,and given her flawed mentality there is no reason to expect differently.The “NEW PARTY”will reverse the 70years of FDR Socialism,cut Federal Departments,Budgets,&Laws.Restore the Constitution in it’s original form,repeal or reratify every ammendment afer the first 10. OR if we don’t find our common soul as a nation…..